Australian shares had also advanced Friday, with the move cementing four straight weeks of gains for the benchmark index. The advance took the index back to a closing level it hadn’t seen since April 2010.

“With China closing down for New Year’s celebrations this week and a relatively light economic calendar from other major economies, the domestic reporting season will be the main focus for markets,” Spooner said.

In earnings reports out Monday, games and entertainment retailer JB Hi-Fi Ltd.
JBH, +0.70%
reported an increase in first-half profit of 3% to 82.1 million Australian dollars ($84.7 million) and forecast a 7% rise in fiscal-year profit.

Investors have been lukewarm towards miners for some time, with Rio Tinto down 0.8% over the past 12 months, while Alumina has fallen 5%. BHP Billiton has gained 3.9% during the same period, but that advance still lagged the S&P/ASX 200, which has risen more than 17%.

Capital Economics said in a note last week that investor returns from commodities have been “uninspiring” over the past two years, particularly compared to returns from equities and government bonds.

“What’s more, there is growing scepticism about the ‘super cycle’ and diversification arguments that the usual suspects have been deploying to promote commodity investments,” the economists said, referring to the commodities super-cycle that has been cited as the driving force in the mining boom.

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